


The age of origin

by Sevro_of_the_howling_dragon



Series: The age of the world [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: BAMF Kure, Canon will burn in hell, HOW DO PEOPLE WRITE 10K WORDS IN A DAY, Immortals, Major Original Character(s), Multi, Original Character(s), SEND HALP I'M DROWNING IN OC'S, Slow Burn, author doesn't know how to tag, authors first fic, check the tags constantly they will change, how, the elders actual A+ parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 02:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17696282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sevro_of_the_howling_dragon/pseuds/Sevro_of_the_howling_dragon
Summary: This tale… this is the tale of the lonely gods, those who have seen all that they had built turn to ash before their eyes. This is my tale. Only one other person in the entire universe knows it. Until now.





	1. Fate's light shines once more

This tale… this is the tale of the lonely gods, those who have seen all that they had built turn to ash before their eyes. This is my tale. Only one other person in the entire universe knows it. Until now.

* * *

 

What nobody other than my sister and me knows is this. Before the cave dwellers, there was intelligent life, more intelligent than you can, or will ever dream of, but not all the world agreed, and so, the conquest of the inquisition began. That is not where this story begins, no, no; this story begins a time before that, with me and my sister, the tale of those cursed by fate, and the tale, of the originals.It began on one day, when in a quiet village, in the middle of winter, the snow falling, candles lit, a leather bound basket was left there, with no witness, all was calm, snow settled. Until. The snow cascaded all around, as an aura, so blindingly bright and pitch as the blackest night enveloped the area… a brave, young man stepped up reached through the aura to discover, a note.

The note read, “ _Hello, to whoever is reading this, there was a reason I left them, my children of sun and shadow, of soul and anger, of light and darkness. Take them to the elder, he is a friend, ask him to care for them; tell him Hikari asked it of him. He will know what it means. Take care of them; raise them as best you can. Their names are Hakushoku Hikari for the child of the sun, and kureshida Hikari for the child of shadow._ ”

The man, I still can’t remember his name, puzzled by this, peered into the basket, to find us, two babes, in the basket. I, small and slim, with hair as white as the snow around us and with soft, fluffy curls, soft faced and featured, wrapped in a white blanket soft as snow. My sister however was very much different, hair, black as night, reaching down her entire body, she herself, despite being only a babe was already muscled, and well defined. It was her wrapping however that drew the most attention, black as her hair, but with silver lined into the fabric, forming intricate, looping patterns, forming fern like shapes, similar to that of an ice pattern. Upon a second inspection of my own blanket, it was lined with copper, forming small sun patterns.

The man confused, but doing the only thing he could now, powered through the aura, dragging his feet through the thick, hard snow, wondering, what power that these babes held to make it become so hard to so much as walk under their aura’s.

After the trudge through an aura only felt around one other person, with the cold biting in, the man arrived at the center of the village, a small tent, covered in swirls and symbols so intricate and precise, yet appearing random. He enters the tent, greeted with a strange, yet oh, so familiar site. The tent, despite appearing small on the outside is enormous on the inside, with all manner of chemical smells, and machinery coating the inside.

‘Elder, something strange has occurred.’ the man managed to croak out through the awesome might of the babes.

The Elder, an old man with more age and experience lining his face than anyone I would meet for millions of years, turned to us.

‘Oh? Something magical, perhaps? Judging by the aura being emitted from that basket you’re holding, I would say so.’ He drawled with a sly grin, amusement lighting his old tired eyes.

‘Yes I would say so, this basket… it… it just appeared out of nowhere! One minute a clear street, the next a powerful, swirling aura blowing away all of the snow. But… elder… in the basket was a note addressed to you, from someone named…’ the man stuttered, the elders presence offsetting the aura.

The elder chuckled ‘Ah! Glad to be free from that… strange aura, I take it?’ he chuckled. ‘What is that aura, I wonder? It teleported in, implying advanced magic, peculiar…’ The elder muttered, interest lining his wrinkles, ‘Anyway! You said it was addressed to me? From who?’ the elder demanded sharply, his eyes turning to the man, command etched into his voice.

The man straightened, his brow growing sweaty, ‘f-from someone n-named… Hikari.’ The man stuttered, the elders presence going from smooth and soothing to sharp and focused in an instant.

The elder’s eyes widened in shock, and for what is most likely for first and last time, gaped in wonder and confusion. His face did not stay like that for long however, his face lighting up, a grin breaking out upon his face, childlike excitement bubbling in his eyes.

‘Oh Hikari! You clever, clever thing, this is just like you!’ the elder laughed, joy lining a face as purely as a child. ‘Ah, Hikari… wait, you said there was a note, well! Don’t just stand there, give it to me boy.’ The elder commanded, joy quickly turning back to curiosity.

‘Ah! S-sorry elder, here it is.’ The man apologised, his face warming. ‘Elder… there is, probably something you should know.’ The man sighed out, wearily, exhaustion lining his features.

The elder’s eyebrow raised his face the picture of curious expectancy. The man merely sighed once more. ‘Very well… the basket was not empty.’ So, believing actions would be better than words, showed the elder us. And with that our story, no, our lives began.

The elder, upon seeing us had a strange look on his face, mix of wonder, anguish and frustration. Face in his hands the elder sighs ‘Hikari… already? Has the time come already?’ he mutters. ‘Alright then. Pass them here, let’s have a look at you shall we?’ the elder sighed. He looked one thousand years older in that moment. ‘Leave us will you? I shall take a look at them myself.’ The elder asked, worry layering his face.

The man nodded, silent, understanding. We and the elder were alone in that tent, the silence bearing down on us.

‘That aura will be a problem, oh well, sorry you two.’ He sighed, before leaning over us, casting a hand over us and whispering a few words that to this day I still do not know.

‘That should do it, no more of that.’ He muttered, weary eyed, he sighed, resignation coating him.

Then, things were set into motion. With the words of the elder, I slowly awoke from my sleep, eyes creeping open, and I looked towards the first thing I saw, the elder. The elder, upon seeing I was awake chuckled and said ‘Ah. Finally awake are we?’ however upon seeing my eyes, he looked content, relaxed, happy even, I tend to have that effect. ‘Now those are some pretty eyes.’ He whispered softly. My eyes you see are a pure golden yellow, gleaming in their appearance, soft, and loving in all aspects.

In response to the elder’s words I let out a gurgle, the elder chuckled saying ‘oh Hikari, must we send them out to this world, only to fight and die?’

Apparently, he was not quiet enough as his words awoke my sister. The Elder’s eyes widened as he whispered in quiet awe ‘now that is magnificent!’

You see my sisters eyes are to me and were to the elder, one of the wonders of the world, for you see, they’re a pure obsidian, but instead of being a solid obsidian, they’re a swirling mass of obsidian gas, never standing still, always moving, as though alive. To most, it’s quite unsettling, seeing the black voids, like a black hole sucking in your gaze, but anyway back to the tale.

The elder stood transfixed by the eyes of void, however did not notice the shadows that began to creep their way toward my sister and slithered around her. The elder, upon noticing this his face changed from awe to guarded intrigue.

‘Despite having her aura sealed she can still use magic? Hikari, what is this…’ the elder mumbled to no one in particular, ‘Perhaps… perhaps it’s not magic! Perhaps it’s something else, something free of aura?’ the elder cried in realisation, then, a grin broke out on his face, ‘Hikari, I never took you for a tinkerer.’ The elder laughed, his face almost cracking, almost as though he hadn’t done this in a long time.

Unfortunately, the sudden loud noise frightened me, and doing what babes do best, I wailed. Even more unfortunately for the old man, my sister did not like my tears, she began to wear a face far too old and filled with too much cold fury for someone so young, and the shadows surrounding her became sharp and jagged, aimed toward the elder.

At this the elder merely chuckled and picked me up, rocking me gently, whispering a lullaby of mountains and rivers, stars and galaxies, suffice it to say it put me right back to sleep. Seeing I was in no pain and was to come to no harm, my sister relaxed, and with her the shadows too.

After setting me back into the basket he felt something crumple beneath me, surprised he moved me to side with a gentle hand and found a note, it read as follows.

“ _Hello, old friend. I’m sorry to place this burden on you, but, in this basket you will find two sets of armour, their names are deathfall and lifebringer, they are armours that Ri-no sorry, visions, and all get me confused. Kureshida and Hakushoku shall wear, you will know who to give what, but, remember this, as this is important, you fickle creature. Don’t give them the armours immediately, wait, and give it to them when the time is right. You’ll know when. But my friend, I must warn you of this truth.”_

As the elder read the note, his old eyes widened and his face became grave, eyes the look of a dead man walking. ‘So Hikari… time to go, is it?’ the elder mumbled eyes glistening. ‘You know, despite… despite me only coming here to see this world… I-I…’ the elder chocked, his heart shattering in his chest. ‘I don’t want to go.’ The elder whispered tearfully. ‘I don’t want to leave th-the friends I’ve m-made. D-don’t want to lose the beauty of the twin p-peaks, of the s-sno-ow, where you c-can see the sunrise. I… I don’t want to be alone. Never again.’ The elder declared in quiet voice. ‘This world… it is just so, so beautiful, It’s flaws completing a picture more beautiful than anything that I could create.’ He whispered growing more and more weary and reverent than any human should be able to.

He looked towards my sister and I. He let out a weak smile through the tears. Letting out a breathy chuckle he whispered, ‘Besides, I can’t just leave them here. I can’t just leave your chosen alone, can I?’ he asked in a small voice.

‘I’ll raise them, that’s what I’ll do I’ll raise them’ the elder whispered, making a promise to all the stars in the sky, to all the people in the world, that have existed and to all that will exist. ‘I’ll raise them to be…’ the elder stuttered. The children of sun and shadow, the children of the earth, the children of the world the children of the future, the past and the present, the chosen of Unmei Hikari. He wondered what he could possibly promise to raise them to be, to make a promise of this magnitude?

He realised, there was only one promise he could make.

‘I will raise them to be worthy to be the chosen Hikari, I will raise them to change this world, and I will raise them to never give in to their pain, to never fall to evil, I will raise them in the borrowed time that I have. I will raise them... to live, to breath, to love… I will raise them to be the greatest heroes this world has or will ever know. I will raise them to have the power of the gods, but the heart of humanity within them. I swear it.’ the elder cried in hope, hope that he could make good on his promise.


	2. The end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> our heroes have had their fun, their ups and downs, they've played the clown, they've had their run, but change waits for no one, not even those it favors

After that rather eventful day in the village of eternal snow and frost, between the peaks of beauty and collapse and the rising sun of fate and falling star of change, the days flew, we grew and learned. But for the next few years not many things happened of note, but there are stories, as there always are in life.

One of the funnier ones was a few months after my sister and I arrived. We were in our cots in the elders tent, Kure and I asleep, restful, the elder at work, chemicals and magic at hand, attempting some sort of experiment. Until…

Waking up from my nap, I felt something tickling my nose, and knowing no better, I sneezed. Unfortunately it activated my power and a blindingly brilliant flash of bright white light flared across the room, the elder, surprised by this, jolted, dropping the chemicals. His magic in reaction to this flared and caused the previously calm chemicals to explode, coating the elder in ash.

As the elder attempted to calm his magic and clean himself down, my sister woke up from her nap with a look of, she looked as though a bird had just personally aimed for her head and taken a shit. The shadows began to swirl and do the… shadow equivalent… of stamping their foot.

Upon all these bright lights and loud bangs, I did what I did best at the time. I wailed. Loud.

The shadows merely stamped harder.

The elder upon seeing this merely wiped an ungracious hand over his face and said with a long suffering look. ‘When I gave this thing the nickname sparkler I did not realize the universe would decide to take it so literally.’

It was at this moment the elder realized with some dread, well… as my sister would put it, that he was in for one insane, dramatic, or god damned ancient hellspawn of a ride… my sister’s weird okay?

Probably my favourite story came when we were about two, having learnt to walk, the elders load had gotten… considerably more… interesting.

We were in our play area, playing with some toys the elder… obtained. The elder had made the grave mistake of leaving us unattended. Upon seeing the exit to the tent, with light shining through, and well, it looked shiny ok?

Being drawn to the light I exclaimed excitedly to my sister in that way young children do, ‘Kure, Daddy’s not here! We hafta go explorering!’ my sister upon hearing these words asked, ‘But… didn’t papa say not to leave wifout him? If we did dat, den we would get in trouble.’

Upon being reminded of this I shook my head and said to her, ‘Yeah bud he not here, he won’t know!’ I stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Kure, putting a finger to her chin as though in thought, eventually gave a tight nod.

‘Okay.’ She said grumpily, still not trusting my logic. 

Still though, we managed to get up and slowly toddled to the entrance of the tent, my excitement growing by the second, a few squeals pure joy left my lips. Kure however, was not so enthusiastic, her eyes swirling and shifting more than normal. Still she followed me, out into the open air.

After all that’s happened, I still remember it.

Feeling the soft wind caressing my face, seeing the light glint off of the two peaks in the distance, and the light cradle my soft face, embracing my face in an orange glow, as though greeting an old friend.

Upon seeing that… beauty, I twirled, letting out a bubbly laugh, honestly if that grin had gotten any wider then it would have split my face! It was an experience, feeling the soft crunch of snow against my feet, seeing those people about the town square, hearing laughter echo through the town and the easy bustle of people at market for the first time… it was glorious.

Even my sister, who until this point was a near silent presence, with a near permanent frown on her face couldn’t help but let out a small smile, her eyes settling, the shadows around us almost seemed to lean into the light, as though she craved to feel it all.

‘It’s so… so pwetty.’ I laughed easily, settling down, collapsing down onto the snow. Even Kure seemed at peace, sitting down in the snow, the two of us feeling it against us, I feeling the light and warmth of it as it bounced off the snow, and Kure feeling the cold as it braced and comforted her.

And so we sat there in a comfortable silence, either out of awe, or just needing a moment to drink it in. And so, we did. We saw and embraced it, and loved it, all of its flaws and its perfections and finding that it painted a picture. A picture of life, and the love of life.

Of course the elder did notice we were gone very soon and was worried for us, understandably. So he looked. And looked. And looked again. He could find no trace of us. And so searching the only place he could think that we were, he looked outside. And saw a sight that stayed with him in his heart for the rest of his days, and the ones after.

He saw us, laying in the snow looking in awe at the natural world, in awe at the village and at the people, nothing but love and care for the world in my eyes, and peace in my sister’s. The elder did nothing but stare, stare in love and admiration for the chosen of his friend and for his children carved into his eyes. At that point he reinforced the promise in his heart, swearing to keep us safe. Even as it cried out in anguish. 

And as night fell my sister and I succumbed to the kind embrace of sleep. The elder, at this point having gone back inside, came out to bring us back in, only to find us asleep sprawled out on the snow, moonlight glinting off of I, and drawn into my sister.

He brought us in and put us to bed, care lining his voice as he whispered ‘Goodnight, my little sparkler and my sweet night.’

That was… one of my greatest, and most painful memories across the millions and billions years of my existence.

But not all the memories were good.

 

 

 

 

We had just turned 4, smart for our age, Kure could already speak well, her cold demeanour punctuating every syllable. And with this… the library opened.

We were in the tent, I was running around the place being chased by the elder, running with cries of excitement breaching my young lips from time to time, the elder grinning like a madman, wrinkles that had previously marred his face to cold harsh stone, now softened into wrinkles of wisdom and childlike joy. During this my sister was looking at us, sitting on the countertop, an incredulous look on her face, as the shadows leaned in her ear.

We stayed like that for a while, the elder and I playing our game as candlelight cast onto my sister’s face, her expression growing less and less incredulous, going from disbelief to fear as the shadows told stories unknown. 

 Meekly my sister asked for our father’s attention. As he turned to her, he asked if everything was all right, noting the look on her face. And so we learned the reason for the respect of the villagers.

‘Papa…’she intoned, doubt crossing her face. ‘Papa, who are the ones of the ruined? Who are the ones who cry out “elder” in fear?’ she asked, fear of the answer crossing her face, her eyes swirling in mistrust.

At her words the elder’s gaze steadied on her, all merriment gone, as his face began to look like an old, broken man. The temperature in the room dropped considerably and the shadows coiled around their mistress, to protect her from her protector.

In an icy tone, no louder than a whisper, yet could be clearly heard throughout the room, the elder asked, ‘What do you know of them. Kure. What. Do. You. Know.’

Kure, scrunching up her face, as though she was attempting to focus eventually asked confusedly, ‘Can’t you hear them? There angry, there shouting! They call you a killer, a legacy of revolution coated in blood! What do they mean Papa? Who did you kill!’ she exclaimed, growing more and more panicked with every word, the anguish swirling in her eyes as the shadows lay down, asleep.

The elder upon hearing the words of his daughter, his eyes widened, and he was still. He whispered, in reverent awe, ‘The unseen library.’ The elder did not move, merely staring until he simply slumped and sighed, sounding as old as the mountains that surrounded us.

The elder said nothing more, simply stepping forwards, and embraced his daughter.

‘Never forget this, my sweet night, I have committed crimes to silence the world, shatter civilisations and turn the coldest of men, into a blubbering mess.’ He whispered solemnly, his face so, so old, years of the worst of man flickering across his face.

‘But I made a promise to a dear old friend and I shall make it once more, I swear that I will raise you to be worthy of your names, I will raise you to change this world, and I will raise you to never give in to their pain, to never fall to evil, I will raise you... to live, to breath, to love… I will raise you to be the greatest heroes this world has or will ever know. I will raise you to have the power of the gods, but the heart of humanity within them. I swear it. And on that day I made a promise to protect you. I have taken lives yes, but no more, no longer.’ The elder intoned, the words being carved from a heart of melted granite.

At these words the shadows whispered into her ear, and her look of mistrust and fear was replaced by one of relief as she let out a sigh.

‘They say you’re telling the truth. They say… “The murderer of rage and anguish has turned to a shield, to protect the mistress and the mirror”, whatever that means.’ She says, shoulders slumping, but the traces of a grin lining her face.

At this the elder’s eyes softened from the hard stone they were, as he said with a wry grin on his face, ‘Well then, this “murderer of rage and anguish” thinks that someone needs some sleep.’

And so with the protests of the innocent, they were sent off to bed, but behind closed doors, the elder merely said, in a tone of a man who has had his hope dashed one too many times,

‘Why must they have these burdens?’

 

 

 

For the rest of those years I did not divulge we merely stayed the way we were, we went out into the village a few times, met some of the villagers.

 

 

They did not like us.  

 

 

A meeting was called to determine the fates of us. Whether we would stay. Or be cast out into the gleeful snow, the villagers gathered around the meeting table in the centre of the tent, gathered together on one side. The elder alone and silent on the other

‘Elder, these children, they’re… they’re not natural.’ One of the braver villagers stated warily, sweat coating his brow. ‘They have been with us for 4 years now, but they haven’t aged a day, yet they speak just as well as any of our children. You must see sense elder; these children can only bring bad luck!’ The villager cried in exasperation, frustration lining his voice.

The elder at these words merely narrowed his eyes, lips thinning, and asked, murder in his tone, yet barely more than a whisper, ‘You would have me abandon what are, for all intents and purposes my children?’

At these words the villagers understood the simple fact that if they attempted to harm or remove the children, then they would suffer a fate worse than death. They knew that even though the elder had protected this village for millennia, he would not hesitate to destroy it in an instant.

‘They. Are. My. Children.’ The elder repeated, his voice calm and cool, however in his eyes were the blood of millions, and those eyes knew all the human body’s weaknesses.

The aura vanishing from the elder he stated simply “The children stay, I have defended this village for 3567 years, you owe me that much. Meeting adjourned.”

Around the tent a few murmurs of assent went up. As they shuffled meekly from the elder’s tent, all of them had but one thought.

“ _We had forgotten the elder’s history_ , _the history of the demon wars, and the revolutionary of the crimson blaze.”_

 

And so we stayed.

 

 

 

 

 

A few months later it was time for Kure and I to start school, and so hand in hand, The Elder, Kure and I walked united as one. I did not fail to notice the looks the villagers gave us, and I could not help but squirm under their cold edged gaze, but all it took was one look from the elder and they scattered like insects, much to my relief. As the villagers walked away the shadows around them seemed to recede.

Eventually we arrived at the school, a small building off toward the side of the village. As we arrived, I couldn’t help but let out a squeal of excitement as it bubbled up inside me, flowing freely through my veins. I was here, about to make new friends. At this point the elder practically had to hold back the bundle of bubbly energy that I was.

‘Daaadyyyy!!!’ I whined, wanting to be let in. at this Kure simply levelled a blank glare at me. I simply sulked thinking _“hmph, kure if you want to be grumpy then fine, but I’m going inside!”_ At our antics the elder merely chuckled, saying in a singsong tone, ‘hold your horses, little sparkler.’

At his words I let out an indignant whine, ‘Daaadyyy!!! I told you not to call me that!’ My words only seemed to make him chuckle harder. At all this Kure only levelled a bored, disinterested look towards us, as though she could make us shut up with glare alone.

It did nothing at all, only turning the elders chuckle into a full on belly laugh, having him double over with laughter, realizing my struggles were in vein I acquiesced with a sigh, slumping my shoulders.

At our antics, my sister said nothing, simply glaring at the wall ahead of us, and, if looks could kill… well… a tenth circle of hell would have to be made from the sheer bloodiness of the look.

Eventually, after managing to rein in his laughter enough to be able to walk without landing flat on his ass, the elder gestured for us to enter the building. Walking in I felt slightly underwhelmed at how small the inside was, after being used to our father’s tent.

After walking for a bit we came across a nice lady, she and the elder began to exchange words for a few minutes, an amiable expression on the elders face. Eventually the woman and the elder seemed to have finished their conversation, turning to us the lady smiled and asked what our names were. Seeing no reason not to tell her, I told her my name practically shouting it for how excited I was. She smiled at this and cooing something back, then she took notice of my sister.

Turning to her she smiled and asked softly what her name was. Kure deciding not to give her a death glare, turned to her with a bored look. That didn’t last long. Upon seeing her, the shadows began to swirl lazily around their mistress, as her eyes widened and grew, if somehow possible, darker, the shades in her eyes like a whirlwind. The woman payed it no heed, simply smiling sweetly asking once again, if a bit more forcefully, what her name was. As the woman noticed my sister’s eyes, she visibly recoiled letting out a small whine, unable to tear her gaze away. The elder not caring about the woman looked towards my sister his aura overpowering once again, at his aura the shadows seemed to still, allowing passage towards Kure.

Leaning down, he asked his daughter in a soft, stony tone, ‘what have they told you?’ Kure, coming out of whatever spell she had been under leaned into the elder’s neck and whispered something indecipherable. At whatever she said he had no reaction other than tapping the woman on the shoulder, seemingly freeing her from whatever nightmarish trance she had been trapped under, and whispered in a voice as cold as ice, his old face frozen in a picture of cold stone whispered ‘Her name. Is Kureshida Hikari. You. Are not. To touch. Her. Clear?’ at the elder’s tone the woman quickly nodded her head before pointing us in the direction of our class and scampering off.

The elder letting out a sigh, kneeled down toward Kure, saying not a word, simply embracing her. At this Kure’s usually either blank or angry face cycled through a kaleidoscope of emotions, shock, confusion, fear, sadness, until she eventually just… stopped. She stopped showing any emotion.

 

Her eyes were a hurricane.

 

Not saying anything she returned the embrace tightly, digging her face into the elders shoulder, as hers began to shake. I simply stood there puzzled, what had Kure heard? I knew what our father had told me of the unseen library, I knew the shadows spoke to them but… what had she heard? Deciding to just ignore these questions and focus on helping my sister, as I stepped near her and joined in the embrace.

I can’t remember how long we stayed like that for, just… embracing, soothing, calming, the one who needed it. eventually we released the embrace, only because she let go, and tearfully she mumbled, as though in a trance, ‘Let’s go.’ And so she led the way, us, her silent followers.

After that point I don’t remember much about that day, we arrived in class, sat down, were introduced to the class, the rest was a blur. I do remember that Kure didn’t get much attention, probably for the best, simply sitting silently, ignored. I however… for whatever reason lots of people attempted to kiss me. Boys and girls. No adults. Just the kids. Those people were the only reason Kure even moved. And that was to deck them across the room. Many people ended up with a broken nose that day. Many, many people.

For whatever reason, the elder notice how many people had broken noses, how many people seemed to be staring at me wistfully, and seemed to put two and two together. He asked us to stay outside for a minute. From that day forth no one ever seemed to pine after me what so ever, if anything we were ignored, well Kure was. I was… very popular. 

At school from there on out we just… moved. We moved with the social flow, I always adapting and making friends, and Kure just not getting in anyone’s way and just generally being a silent presence.  

That woman did not stay in that village for long

 

 

 

 

So we continued that life, one of popularity and fun, and one of silent companionship and hearing of the sins of man. We were happy.

It went on that way for the rest of our schooling time, but there was one key day, and rather than explain to you in some poetic way, it is time you learnt of why my sister is known as the second grim reaper.

 

 

 

 

We were around sixteen, still not looking like we had aged a day, and the people of the village still not fully trusting us. A new family had recently moved in, a wife a husband, and a child of sixteen years. He joined our school. Today was his first day.

We had just arrived in class and had settled down in our desks, I chatting to my friends amicably, Kure sitting next to me, nose deep in a book. She had taken up that habit recently. And boy could she read, that term, “unseen library”? that term is accurate. _Very_ accurate.

Anyway I’m getting side-tracked, me and Kure had just sat down and were chatting when the new kid came in, the teacher made him do the classic introduction, when he asked a question

‘Hey teach, why are there a couple of babies in this class, I thought this school didn’t have a nursery?’ he drawled with a sly grin on his face. At this the class went silent. If there was one thing they had learnt, it was that you do not mention that particular fact while my sister was in the room. Hearing the words of the boy, my sister put her book down slowly, giving an icy stare to the boy

The teacher noting the silence, attempting to disarm the situation, nervously laughed out ‘Ah! That’s Hakushoku Hikari and Kureshida Hikari, nobody actually knows why they look like that, but I assure you, they are just as intelligent as anybody in this class, hell Kureshida actually has the highest score in the class!

If anything all that did was make the boy’s grin spread wider, and with a snakelike look in his eye, asked innocently, ‘Oh! So that mean they’re freaks?’

At his words I actively flinched, everyone else in the class drawing in a sharp breath. He continued, laughing slyly ‘especially that white haired one, I mean seriously, not even looking a year old and still has the hair of an old man?’ at his words my eyes visibly began to glisten, nobody in the village had ever been this cruel to me, my shoulders were beginning to shake. Everybody in the class was actively backing away from me and Kure.

The boy didn’t stop. His words cutting deeper and deeper with every syllable. He continued with serpentine precision of his words, an evil smile splitting his face ‘I mean look at everybody, backing away from them, realizing what freaks they are! Honestly, I pity the mother that sired you, oh wait your orphans aren’t you? She probably killed herself after seeing your horrible hair and how much of a freak you are!’ he practically spat. It was too much. At his words the tears began to fall, sobs escaping my lips. Kure was trembling, everyone in the room behind a desk or outside the room entirely. The boy upon seeing my pain did not stop. His grin grew wider; he had succeeded, and might as well continue the roll he was on, the teacher wasn’t stopping him. He finished with one last statement, as he sneered out a hammer. ‘Aww, maybe you are actually babies! Don’t cry baby, I’m sure your mothers fine,’ and evilly brought it down upon the final nail in his coffin with a maniacal cackle. ‘She’s far away from you after all!’

He wasn’t laughing for long.

My sister snarled a hatred of pure shadow and crimson, and all of a sudden, the shadows were brought down upon the child who had dared make the brother of the last unseen library cry. He was slashed by razor shadows, with precise, lattice work cuts as Kure leaped off her chair and onto a desk. After the shadows had ceased their slicing, they slinked back to their mistress, angled towards his throat. In front of his face were two shadows, razor sharp, directly over his eyes.

The boy was shaking as his life essence spilled out onto the floor around him, and his life was hung over the mercy of the heir of shadows.

The shadows which usually swirled around their mistress now stood in an unnatural stillness, poised and ready to pounce on their mistress’ prey. Kure’s eyes were storm like, a thunderous expression cresting her face. The temperature of the room had dropped considerably.

Kure whispered in a voice resembling the elder, in the stone etched into it, ‘You dare insult my family? You dare insult my brother? The only reason you are still alive is because if I killed you, father would be disappointed. Now I will give you a chance.’ She offered, her head tilting to the side as the boy’s own shadow began to wrap around him, coiling around him into shackles of cold unlight.

‘You and your family shall leave this village, never come back, and pray I forget you, for if I remember you, I may hunt you.’ The shadows began to coil around his neck, tightening. ‘You have twenty four hours. If you fail to do this, I will finish this job.’ She finished icily.

The boy, through the crushing of his windpipe, choked out, ‘you… you can’t do that! The villagers… would… would stop you!’

At his words my sister merely tilted her head, the shadows growing tighter, and replied darkly, ‘and what makes you think they can stop me? What makes you so sure I won’t just kill anyone who gets in my way?  They’ve done me no favours.’ 

And it was in that moment, that brief moment I understood. For that brief moment I _feared_ my sister. I understood that people didn’t ignore my sister, _they steered clear of her_ , for fear of this… this monster. I feared her with a primordial fear of predators, to run the fuck away, for if you didn’t, you were dead. If you ran you could survive a little bit longer. I understood why people found her eyes disturbing, as I too in that moment stared into her eyes, and saw not the beauty of a hidden soul looking back, but instead my sins reflected in her glare.

At her words his face grew somehow paler, and he choked out, in obvious pain, ‘B-but surely the Elder would care about the great, great grandchild of the founder of- of the Inquisition more than… more than the life of a couple of freaks?’

At his words my sister gave a fanged smile and asked coyly, ‘Oh! Well I dunno, who would he choose? His daughter and son?’ that smile turned into a snarl as she growled, fury lining her voice, ‘or the idiot with family ties who had the gall to insult them!’

At her words it was evident her earlier promise was about to be rendered null, attempting to make sure that no one died today I cried out in a plea, desperate for her to stop, ‘Please Kure, calm down! He has every right to be confused after all! I mean we don’t exactly look… look…’ the words I was about to say dried up on my tongue, what were we? Freaks? Abominations? I searched for a word that wouldn’t make me agree with what the boy had said but… there was nothing.

Letting out a small sigh, I stood, determination and certainty lining my features, I cried out, not wanting to accept the possibility the boy had proposed to be fact, ‘We are not freaks! And you, Kureshida Hikari, are not a murderer.’ As I spoke my voice began to lose that steady assuredness It had begun with and slowly devolved into a shaky mess, the sheer possibility of what the boy had said creeping up on me.

Kure, sensing my discomfort at the idea of someone dying by her hand, sighed and acquiesced, glaring at the boy she hurled him out the room with the dry comment of ‘that twenty four ours is now forty eight ours, so get moving!’

As he scampered away he let out an indignant cry of, ‘you’ll pay for this! I swear it!’ at the time I thought nothing of it, merely glad that was over. After that the day went back to normal, other than people attempting to stay at least three metres away from Kure at all times.

But the effect of that was nowhere near over, oh no, there was much to come.  

 

 

The repercussions began within the village, after Kure’s outburst the villagers had lost every ounce of fragile trust they once held for us, treating us like ticking bombs ready to blow at a moments notice, not even the elder’s glares and cold words could dispel their rage filled fear, as they all gathered in clumps whenever we walked by, as though we were about to pounce on them and draw their lifeblood from their bodies.

After this had been going on for about a year the elder pulled us out of the school, and did not let us out of the tent at any point, his age and his promise shining through in those months, he would not let his children die.

He was home-schooling us, occasionally teaching Kure control over the shadows, but nothing major, merely making sure they wouldn’t spring out of her control at any time. During this time I felt… blank. Like something precious had been torn away but I could not grieve for it. I can’t remember how long it stayed like that, we being regarded as threats to be avoided and us being kept in a cage.

Eventually though, it reached its breaking point.

 

 

It was a quiet night, I was working on a piece of work the elder had set me, while Kure was swirling the shadows around her in a protective formation, the elder watching on, not saying a word. Suddenly the shadows halted their lazy dance, and gathered round their charge in a iron formation, our father upon noting this stood up straighter, the cold glint of a soldier in his eyes, his mouth set in a hard line; he began muttering some indecipherable phrases as various glyphs and sworls  around the tent began to glow. Confused I looked between them, a puzzled look on my face, what had the shadows seen? My question was answered shortly when the sound of crackling fire and the crunch of snow reached our ears.

Fearful I took a few steps back, away from the entrance, wary of an attack. All of a sudden the symbols on the walls of the tent flared and the tent began to heat up, as we heard various cries go up outside the flaps.

At this the elder’s expression grew thunderous, as he bellowed in a stormy tone, ‘You dare! You dare to attack me? Your protector? This is your last chance, ever attack me, or my family again and I will raze this village to the ground, with you in it!’ the villagers paying it no heed attempted to enter the tent, only to be blocked off by some sort of invisible wall.

My eyes widened. Magic. The elder was using magic, not once had I seen him ever even breath a syllable to activate his magic, and now he was activating his stronghold. As I looked out upon the villagers I noticed how some of them appeared slightly scorched, as though their clothes had ignited and then been put out.

The leader of the mob stepped forward warily, preparing to speak, ‘elder!’ he cried pitifully, ‘stop defending these monsters, they have attacked people, they nearly killed someone!’ the elder at his word said nothing, merely taking an icy tone and said in a voice too quiet, ‘yet you attempted to kill us, by burning us alive? I take it you want to talk? Yet you lead with violence, and if so what makes you any better than the ones you call monsters?’

At his word the villagers actively flinched, some looking deterred as though realizing what they had attempted to do. But the speaker was not deterred. ‘Yes, we may have done that, but we were attempting to eliminate a threat, surely you can understand that? Revolutionary of the crimson blaze!’

At his words the elder stopped. He froze and in a tone of murder of countless and of knives dripping with murderous rage quietly whispered, ‘you have no right to mention that name.’ the elder paused as though gathering himself, until that mask cracked.

The elders face became not of this earth, it became all the monsters that hide under your bed, all the pain and evil in the world and all the death and all the pain of an immortal time put together cried out to the heavens in a voice of what is beneath, ‘You have no right to desecrate the names of my companions and those who _died for you!_ Of those I _loved!_ Of those who’s very souls have been rent apart and are trapped in eternal torture, _for you ungrateful maggots!_ One more word and you are going to suffer a fate _indescribable!’_

The pure venom in his words made everyone, even my sister recoil in fear. If I thought the stunt Kure pulled that started this whole fiasco was terrifying, this was impossible, its sheer fury enough to shake the earth, enough to shift the tides of reality and make the gods tremble in terror.

 

 

The villagers at the elder’s cry backed away, scared for their lives, and if I were them, I would have attempted to make peace with whatever higher power there was, unfortunately there would have been nothing to make peace with as they would have ran, ran away from this thing that has suffered too much and has nothing left to lose that could shatter the very ties of reality with a breath if it so chose.

Our father upon seeing the villagers reaction let out a mirthless chuckle and said quietly, in a tone of one that just wanted to sleep and be free of thought, ‘fine, come in, we’ll talk, but don’t expect me to agree with anything you say. After all, I have a promise to keep.’ And with a lopsided grin, he gestured for them to come into his sanctuary.

After all had entered, the elder conjured up the meeting table as it was thirteen years ago, when it was first decided we should stay, looking as though it had not aged a day. The only difference was that there were three chairs on one side and none on the other.

As all were ready the elder simply asked a question, ‘why do you want these children to leave, is it because of my daughter fighting back to protect her brother? Or is that just an excuse to get them to leave?’

At his question various murmurs went up amongst the villagers, until the man who had spoken earlier silenced them all with a hand. In reply he hurriedly stated, ‘well, maybe we don’t want freaks in our village.’

The elder said nothing… and that silence, unnerved them all. It relieved them as well, for if there was silence then that beast from below would not surface. But it stretched. And stretched. Until all there was, was your own mind and it made the villagers question, were they right?

One of the braver villagers, a woman, I can’t remember anything else about her, stepped up and in a nervous tone mumbled, ‘Even if they’re not freaks the one that had the outburst, Kureshida is still dangerous, what if she is set off again? What if her brother or you aren’t around to stop her? What then elder?’ at her words the mob’s conviction was reaffirmed as murmurs of assent went up amongst the crowd.

At her words Kure actively flinched and stared at her lap, a conflicted look in her eye, as the shadows subtly wrapped around her in comfort. We were in a corner. The woman was right. There was nothing more we could say. What she had said was true, we didn’t know if Kure would attempt to kill again, would enter a rage again.

Seeing the affect her words had on us, the woman became emboldened, speaking more confidently, she questioned assuredly, ‘And how do we know the other one doesn’t also have some freakish ability, how do we know he won’t attempt to kill us?’

At her words I physically went still but mentally, my mind was a storm. How did we know I wouldn’t attempt to kill anyone? Maybe they were right, maybe we should just leave.

As the villagers heard her words they began to gain confidence beginning to take up a chant, a chant that pounded through our skulls like a hammer, ‘they must go, they must go, they must go, they must go, they must go!’

And so it went, our father not saying a word, his expression growing more and more weary with every repeat, and my sister and I growing more and more dejected and defeated.

 

 

Then a voice cut through the crowd. A voice filled with righteous anger, a voice shouting, ‘Oh shut up!’ the crowd was silenced. The three of us raised our heads to look at our saviour. My eyes widened in shock, Kure’s face mirroring my own, even the elder looked surprised.

Standing in front of us was a boy from our class. I can barely remember his name. He was tall, blood red hair and equally red eyes, and a very pissed off expression on his face.

He continued, walking toward us, ‘I’m in these two’s class, I’m a friend of Haku’s, and I’ll tell ya’ class has been hell without em, what with how dull it’s been without literally the _kindest fucking person in the village!’_  

At the boy’s words the woman who had spoken earlier snapped out of her stupor, and growled angrily, ‘Xue Ren you get your ass back over here right now young man! Get away from them! Especially that shadow girl, didn’t you hear what she did to that boy?’

Hearing this Xue scoffed and drawled, ‘yeah, no you old bastard, you may have forgotten this but as I said,’ he paused at this and then whispered coldly, ‘I’m in her fuckin class bitch and frankly, I think your ignoring half the bloody story.’ pausing again he looked right at my sister, the aforementioned’s mouth agape, as he stared directly into her eyes _and did not flinch_ , continued softly, ‘I saw as that _cunt_ of a rich kid insulted my friend and as that friend was reduced to tears, and I saw a sister protect her own, protect her _best god damned friend_ from someone who was going to hurt him.’ He paused glancing to his mother, ‘and I saw as everyone hated her, for just trying to protect someone she loves.’ Sighing he looked back at her and finished lazily ‘and honestly Kure? I gotta thank ya for helpin my mate, so thanks.’

Turning back to the crowd he let out a mad grin as he proudly stated, ‘and I think I ain’t the only fuckin one!’ the crowd turned outside to see a sight that… I will never forget.

I saw as everyone from my class, all of them, every last god damnable one of them, teacher in-fucking-cluded stood outside, expressions thunderous. They marched through the crowd to stand by Xue and as the three of us, and the entire crowd stood agape, Xue asked smugly a mad grin splitting his face, ‘An who do ya think knows em better? The people who spent _thirteen years_ with the bastards? Or the ones who know them based off of bleedin rumours and drunk bar tales?’ letting out a small chuckle, he turned to me and let out a thin smile, and said softly, ‘Hey, Haku, consider this payback for not being there when ya needed us.’ Letting out one last smile, he turned back towards the crowd and my year, as one, cried out, ‘They stay!’

And that was that, we stayed. The villagers couldn’t put up an argument against us, and so they agreed that we would stay. Kureshida and I stayed, re-joining the school, and from that point on, Kure wasn’t ignored, she acted frustrated whenever people dragged her into conversation, but I could tell she liked it, she enjoyed the attention after not getting any. And boy did Xue love to give her attention, I feel like the only reason he hadn’t asked her out yet was because she had the body of a child.

And so life went on, we lived for years there, still looking like new-borns, and eventually everyone came not to tolerate us, but instead to accept us, and treat us as one of their own.

Not much happened for the next few years but eventually our outlandishness reared its ugly head once again. It had been one hundred years. Most of our friends from school were dead by now, with only Xue remaining, an old man with us still youthful, not a day older than when we arrived, with him on his deathbed. Kure and I were by his side, holding his hands as the heart monitor and the IV drip keeping him alive went on. 

Kure’s eyes were dripping, the shadows around still, silent. They watched, coating the walls in inky blackness, waiting, watching. Waiting for… eternity to act, to torture and bless the one they favour.

Xue’s eyes opened with a shaky breath. He stared at the ceiling but not with the gaze of one lost in their mind. Instead, with the gaze of one looking at the night sky as it cradled all the stars in it’s stretching darkness, in its loving arms, as it held the brightest of them all. The star of the night. He turned his gaze slowly to my sister, that admiration and awe withstanding, as he muttered, a small grin cresting his weathered face, ‘I’ll be waiting for you, so just… just…’ a shuddering cough racked his body. Kure reached into her pocket, taking out a tissue cleaning away the blood spilt on her robes, the mist was coming.

He paused taking a breath and gave a weak smile, brushing his hand through her hair, a faraway look in his eye. He continued slowly, ‘death… catches up with us all, so don’t… worry…’ he smiled a toothy smile, shutting his eyes, giving a weak chuckle, and with his final breath, whispered words into the ether, attempting to console the inhuman being in front of him, but even now, I can’t tell if these were meant to reassure himself, or my sister. He whispered ‘surely you can’t… can’t have… long to… to wait.’

 

 

He couldn’t be more wrong...

 

 

We had millions of years to wait

 

 

 

The heart monitor went silent.

 

 

As did my sister.

 

 

 

As did my mind

 

 

The mist had come

The shadows quickly receded, light flooding into the room, my sisters eyes still, empty of emotion, for me it was as though a fog had clouded my memory of Xue, as they had so many others, my sister was no better, this was Xue, the only other person other than myself and the elder that she could say she loved… and she couldn’t even muster enough emotion to have her eyes swirl, it was like our emotion and the emotion the memories that he brought were cast out, poured out of our bodies and minds like a liquid, we remembered him, but he was just a name, no face, no voice, no being, just a name, some actions with no meaning, words without emotion, he was words on paper to Kure and I. he was nothing. I knew I should have been sad but I wasn’t, I barely even understood why I was friends with a voiceless shapeless thing! And that understanding was trickling out second by second growing from a trickle to a stream to a river to an ocean, until all that was left of him was a name, words with no meaning, and actions with no context.

 

Our father acted like he understood this phenomenon, and he did, and he acted like they never existed, the dead meant nothing to the three of us, only the living.

 

 

 

And so the years went by, we had just turned one hundred and sixty and still showed not a second of age, the villagers no longer in fear of us, instead we were valued with similar respect to the elder. Whenever anyone had a problem they went to us, we were the second oldest and, therefore to the villagers, the second most experienced. Xue was wrong, death couldn’t catch up with us. 

 

 

We had just turned one hundred and eighty, Kure was going to the bar, she had become one of the patrons for the bar, yet earning back all she gave in the weekly drinking contest, _which she never lost_. Kure and I were walking there, Kure preparing to end everyone there as they got hammered, and she barely got tipsy, and I prepared for a lot of shouting, swearing and sweat.

We had just arrived in the bar when we noted a few travellers from out of town sitting at one of the tables.

‘Did you hear man? The Inquisition are apparently beginning to conscript people for-‘ they halted their conversation upon noticing what were to them, two fully new-born babies walking, with fully developed teeth and very strange eyes.

Sneering, one of them lumbered over to us and smugly asked, ‘What’re a couple of babies like you doin’ in here? Did you lose your mummy?’ Hearing his comments the bartender opens his mouth before looking towards my sister, and shut his mouth silently. My sister asked the man in front of her a question in a completely monotone voice, ‘Okay then you little shit, how about this, you and I have a drinking contest, whoever wins, has to pay for the drinks? Sound good?’

The man upon hearing this sneered, replying ‘Babies aren’t allowed to drink alcohol, so no I don’t-‘oh my is the big strong man pussying out to the weak helpless baby?’ Kure interrupted innocently.

Hearing Kure’s tone the man’s expression became furious, as he ground out his denial of her statement ‘Oh you are fucking on Brat, just don’t go crying to your mama when you lose!’

At this Kure merely chuckled and muttered under her breath ‘oh this is gonna be fun!’

The challenge began. They both began with a beer keg, but Kure… took less than 2 seconds to down hers, before the next one was coming. Seeing this man attempted to match my sisters pace. Only to choke on his drink. And so this went for the next few minutes. After this the man was beginning to wonder _holy shit what was this kid made of_? They had been drinking triple the amount he had for the exact same amount of time he had and didn’t even look _tipsy_ , deciding to bunker down he continued to drink. And drink. And drink until he could barely even see but refused to lose to a gods damned _child!_

After half an hour of drinking he felt himself began to lose consciousness but kept himself going, he would not lose! Even if the kid didn’t even look tipsy, they were probably just a very good actor. And then the floor said hello. He looked up to look at the kid and they were simply grinning at him with a smug grin on their face.

And as they jumped down from their chair she threw a statement over her shoulder, smugness flowing freely, as she said ‘good luck paying the bill!’

The man looked at the bartender pleadingly, but unfortunately for the man there was no pity that day, as the bartender handed the man the bill part of his soul was crushed as he looked at the astronomical price for the amount of drinks the girl had, dropping the bill on the ground he stared blankly at the cold, unforgiving floor as I patted him on the back sympathetically and went to follow the drinking queen.

 

 

We… we… s-sorry, gotta swap, I-I can’t

Hey there you lucky prick, Y-sorry _Haku_ , for the saint that he is… struggles with the next few bastards of memories

We went on, I crushed the dreams of having a financially secure future of a few more drunkards, the elder laughed at our antics and Haku was _bored_! Twenty years of no fun, no exploring, just living, he hated it. I needed _something_ to do, when a thought came to him, the clever shit.

The mountains, the so called mountains of beauty and collapse, seemed to interest the little bastard, and so, he went and asked the elder if we could leave the village for a few weeks to explore the mountains, he knew I would agree because if I didn’t then the puppy dog eyes come out. _You do not say no to the puppy dog eyes!_ Anyway, he asked the elder if we could leave and well, that sparked an argument I do _not_ care to remember. Basically it amounted to the old fart having a hissy fit because he didn’t want his precious kids to leave the protection of the village, too bad though because the puppy dog eyes came out and as I said earlier, _you do not say no to the puppy dog eyes!_ At this the elder sighed, acquiesced, preparing us for the trip with some… interesting concoctions.

Basically let’s just say that our father attempted to poison us, yet also gave us some sort of sustenance that worked, even if it tasted like it came out of a rat’s arse. But eventually we got on our way, leaving the village for the first time in our lives, and exploring the mountains that can _burn in hell!_ Even for me, a bloody muscly bastard like I am, it was _hell!_ Because some bastard of a moron decided to climb the mountain of _collapse_ first saying, ‘it was closer.’ For your information the mountain of collapse is a _very apt name._ Constant rock slides meaning my shadow manipulation came in very handy. As well as it was less a hike and more of a _straight shit shot to the top!_

Eventually, after nearly breaking our necks _five times_ \- we made it to the top, and boy was it a sight.

Even for me, the edgy shit that I am, I could appreciate it, I saw as the setting sun glinted off of the gems within the mountains, I felt the sun and its warmth crest my face and for the first time in… a hundred years probably, I felt full, full of emotion and joy! I felt the hard, shielding granite beneath us shift lightly, and feeling like I could sense the shift of the earth, like I could fly and conquer the world, like I could go and pick up the sun and cradle its soft warmth in my arms. My eyes were a hurricane, but not the fast erratic movements of rage, no. instead the soft lazy movements of joy and beauty.

Haku had a similar expression on his face, one of awe and amazement, and we sat there, like we had all those years ago. It was amazing, feeling the wind caress my hair, and the warmth bathe me in its soft glow. We stayed there so long night fell. And that was beauty incarnate.

We saw as the sun went down and the stars awoke in their beds of soft blue, as the galaxies and stars were cradled in our sight, and the lights winked into an existence of beauty and innocence. And we saw as the moon, their guardian of light and beauty shone like a star, and raised its head in love and care for the world beneath it.

It was beautiful, we were happy, we were filled with awe, we were respected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we smelt the smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OHMYGODITSFINALLYDONEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!! 
> 
> THIS 
> 
> CHAPTER
> 
> WAS
> 
> HELL
> 
> TO
> 
> WRITE 
> 
> anyway, it's done now, and thanks for reading 
> 
> wait, how many more of these do I have to write? AND THEY HAVE TO BE JUST AS LONG AS THIS ONE????!!!!! 
> 
> well excuse me readers, but author-san has to go die in a corner right now, soo yeah 
> 
> *proceeds to die in a corner 
> 
> anyway, thanks to my IRL friend who helped me come up with ideas and checked this jumbled mess for flaws, soooo they're basically my beta 
> 
>  
> 
> as always, REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE


	3. Changes End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elder: go   
> Rin: yeh no   
> Rin: oh shi   
> Village:... guess i'll die

We turned to the source of that vile smell, we… we… hah, after all my millions of existence, I still can’t move on, can I? I’m pathetic.

We turned to the source of that vile, murderous smell, and we saw… saw… we saw as our village was engulfed in gleeful, dancing flames that consumed all in their path as the emerald, the topaz and the lapis flames ate all we held dear, cackling all the while.

Seeing this, Haku’s face had lost that joyous light that gifted us so often to be replaced with a look of pure horror as his legs seemed to fail him, as he collapsed to the floor and mumbled, quiet and defeated, ‘N-no, it… it can’t be gone. They can’t be gone… our father can’t be gone… right?’

He looked pleadingly towards me as though I could give an answer through the static roaring through my skull in fear for what may be, and for what must not be. In response to his look I turned away, not wanting him to see me so weak, and so… god damned _pathetic_. As we were there watching helplessly as our village was cremated in flames of dancing glee and destructive beauty. We heard the screams go up of those who were razed to nothing but ash, as our friends turned to dust, cold, grey, lifeless, dust.

We stood there numbly, the static roaring through my head having spread, lightning coursing through my veins, I couldn’t think, I… couldn’t breathe… so I stood there, inactive, a _coward! A filthy shit-stained coward! Useless when those I loved were dying!_ And I could do nothing. I was useless. I was scared. Scared of whatever monster under the bed had destroyed my home, scared because I _didn’t want to forget and lose these people!_ The switch would be flipped. And I would forget, like I did with… like I did with… Xue.

But then… hope. A thin, weak, tiny flame of hope ignited in my chest as I saw what happened next. I saw as the flame’s roar died down, as some winked out and suddenly spears of earth pierced the clouds, blood soaking them. Fear rattled through me at this but my ever faithful servant arrived, finally, as they whispered in my ear, monotone as ever yet containing such dripping venom I couldn’t hope to describe, said, ‘ _He has stopped them, your protector protects the charge of his origin, as he protects the things they build from the empire of blood and conquest!’_

Hearing their words I snapped out of whatever stupor had overcome me. I would not be weak. I would save my village, _I would not fall!_ Feeling that familiar power begin to flow through me, the power of my servant I let out a fanged smile and cockily said to my brother, ‘Don’t cry you damn idiot, they’re alive, papa sent out those spires, and dear god I could kiss him for that!’ hearing my words he turned to me, as though in a daze, he got up and, somehow, begun to glow.

It was a soft glow, a glow of a weak, dying candle, as he begun to light up the night in a glo, that didn’t just spread to your bones. It was like an arrow shot of joy and hope right to your heart as this light filled you with determination and strength, strength to fight and to _save!_

 

 

 

Like hell I was gonna’ ignore it

 

 

 

 

As I bathed in the soft hope of my brother’s heart I began to plan. More specifically, plan our descent. There wasn’t much I could do my servants, whilst yes being durable, couldn’t sustain that many hits, or hits of that magnitude. There wasn’t anything we could do. Until I felt something shift in my body, that freely flowing power that went through my veins grew and sped the hell up! It was like I had pure energy flowing through my veins as this sheer fury made me feel like I was unstoppable, like I could take on anyone and would send them to a place far worse than hell. As I felt this, that power began to grow, as though a crack widening as more of that unlight seeped through my veins.

Grinning at my brother, a smile full of teeth, as the shadows around him grew darker, I drawled out simply, ‘Hold on tight’

A tentacle of pitch sped towards him, wrapping around his stomach, pulling him towards me as we rocketed off the cliff-face, aiming towards the forest of spires and blaze, wrapped in a cocoon of darkness, the only light being from my brother as we were surrounded by cool, swirling walls of shadow that protected us from the harsh, violent edges of the mountain as they protected their mistress and her charge.

Eventually we reached the base of the mountain, the shadows unfurling from their charge’s shield as I stood, a cocky smirk cresting the hard features of my face, this was it, this was the power that would destroy whatever dared to harm my friends, this “empire of blood and conquest”

 

 

Oh how naïve I was

 

 

Turning to my brother I noted a predicament he was in, while I was at the eye of the storm of the cocoon, he was toward the edge of that cocoon, and was coated in thick lines of crimson, as those precious jewels drip, drip dripped down onto the uncaring, solid ground his eyes blank and uncaring.

Seeing the damage I had done to him I scrambled to help him up, guilt swallowing my heart. How could I hurt him? How could I hurt my own flesh and blood? As I took his hands in my own I saw as the shadows slinked towards him and pushed him up, sensing my wish as they created supports around his body.

Swallowing my guilt I asked tentatively, ‘Are… are you okay? Haku?’ at my words a bit of awareness seemed to slip back into his eyes, as he turned his head to me and mumbled a string of unintelligible words, from what I could make out, he seemed to be repeating ‘It’s okay, they’re okay, it’s okay, they’re okay.’ Understanding what had bewitched my brother I did what he had done so many times for me as I embraced him in a firm hug and steadily stated, ‘Brother, they’re going to be fine, we can save them, Papa can save them.’ Hearing my words he begun to dig his head into my shoulder and from what I can remember of that night, he choked out through his tears ‘I don’t want to forget them I don’t want to lose them, I want them to…’ he stopped, unable to continue, but his meaning was clear, he wanted them to live, so that they wouldn’t be consumed by that fog, by the light of the memory of them being blown out.

As we stood there, me soothing my brother, he releasing the pain of that fear, that glow surrounding him begun to brighten and the horrible lacerations that crowned his skin in a web of thorns, began to seal, as the slashes closed and healed, as the light seemed to embrace his body in a soft cradle and sealed his wounds, as I stood back, in awe of this holy healing of my brother, as his skin returned to what it was before, returned to that pure, clear skin.

My brother upon seeing this seemed to break from the effect he was under, awareness returning to his eyes, he stared as this light seemed to fill the wounds and regrow the skin on them. Shaking my head I grabbed his arm and began to run towards the village, the giant leap of mine getting us within a few metres of the burning homes.

Shortly we got there, and boy oh boy was it hot, those flames licked our clothing, the only reason we weren’t scorched to death by the flames was that light, it seemed to cool any burn and seemed to almost sooth the flames, slowing their dance of death.

Upon seeing the effect this glow had on the flames that confidence within me bubbled up once more, not only could I kill anyone who got in my way, but now we were practically invulnerable to any and all attacks thanks to this glow. During these thoughts my face was split by an evil grin, one that promised pain to any that beheld it. My brother seemed merely shocked, his eyes widening at every disappearing burn, but he followed, he followed me, he followed a destroyer and didn’t fear, thinking he would be protected, thinking I was limitless.

 

He wasn’t the only one who thought that.

 

As we ran through the burning streets, we came across many bodies, all scorched, all those we could call our friend, and with each, the fog came faster and faster, clouding their memories so we wouldn’t lament on them, so that pain wouldn’t rack our beings to their core, and for once, I was grateful for this curse, as the grief couldn’t get in my way, so I would be able to save those who are left.

After a few minutes of running we arrived at the centre of the town, and… and… shit god…, in and out, in and out. Okay, I’m bloody fine! I’m fine. At the centre of town was a bloodbath, countless villagers being slaughtered in front of our eyes. No, no they couldn’t be, they… we can’t be late we can still save some, right? My brother’s eyes were wide, he was shaking, terror running like a cancer through his eyes. The static from before flashed through my veins tenfold from what it was before, the fog couldn’t come fast enough, too many of them were still being tortured, the pain, was this grief? Was this eternal, filling, writhing, _screaming_ pain grief? It hurt.

Eventually, one of the murderers noticed us standing off to the side, grinning he slit the throat of the bleeding broken body of our classmates grandson, a murderous aura cascading off of his being. He begun to saunter toward us, his knife still dripping, his face coated in blood forming a deadly paint, murder in his eyes, as he giggled toward us raising his knife towards us, sighed insanely, ‘easy pickings~’ sensing what this man intended, I shakily raised my fists, the shadows coiling around my body in an impromptu armour of pitch.

Seeing this the man let out a noise of surprise as he drawled cockily, ‘Oh? Someone with magic? You’re still only a baby though, you’re probably going to squeal when I cut you up, aren’t you, piggy piggy?’ hearing his words relief flooded through me like a waterfall, he underestimated me, in that moment I thanked the gods for this curse, in a fight your greatest strength is being underestimated, I felt as though I could easily floor this guy, yes he had killed… god only knows how many, but he hadn’t encountered me yet.

He paused as though considering something, before letting out a conflicted whine of, ‘But those bigwigs at The Inquisition did say not to kill anyone with magic…’ he seemed to reach a conclusion, as he raised his knife to his lips as his tongue darted out to lick the knife, as he giggled, murder leeching into his voice, ‘I’m sure if only kill one or two I can get by.’

Not giving him a moment’s notice, I whipped a nearby shadow towards him, its edge razor, aimed for his heart. It reached him, slamming into his chest, knocking him down, this was it, I could win, I was stronger, vengeance would be mine. It looked like I had killed him, he was still, on the ground not a twitch.

Until…

A laugh rang out from our area as he flipped himself onto his feet, his eyes crazed as he laughed, insanity punctuating every syllable, ‘Nice hit! You caught me off guard. Now it gets interesting,’ he paused, going still for a minute before locking eyes with me and god, his insanity was… beyond measure, the murder in his eyes a god damned fire storm of malice, darkly finished, ‘My turn.’

He was at least thirty metres away, if he hadn’t used magic yet, I assumed he couldn’t, and I was right, he couldn’t. But I underestimated him. And I overestimated myself, the fact he could take a full power surprise attack to the chest from a shadow should have tipped me off, but it didn’t.

One second he was far away, the next, he was a looming shadow, leaning over me, a mad grin splitting his face, as he whispered, ‘Game over.’

I felt something cold slide through my throat and, as crimson began bubble out of my mouth, wet cries wrenched from my throat as the cold began to creep in, that cold. Cold feeling, seeped through my veins, and I collapsed, clutching the wound, I distantly was aware of my brothers cries, as he caught my body, cradling it in his arms and I saw as the man ahead of us laughed insanely to the heavens as he licked the knife, as cries of ecstasy were wrenched from his throat. It was so, so cold, maybe I should just rest, be with those who fell, be with Xue Maybe it would be better if I just slept. The darkness crept into my vision and I dumbly realized that I was dying. I felt… strange, an odd sense of peace, that I had lived a long, and good life, and now I would join the others… that I would be… free. And so, just wanting rest, I closed my eyes, putting the monsters under the bed away.

 

 

 

 

Then a warmth fought back. A warmth of hope and love beat back that darkness, pulled me away from that endless nothing, and that warmth flowed through my veins, soothing the storm within, soothing me as it gently pulled me back, as it softly whispered a lullaby of why I live, whispered a lullaby of why I fight, and it pulled me back from the knife’s edge.

A light began to fill that dark, that dark fog that clouded my memory, and I saw my friends. All of them, my class, the villagers, and at their head was _him._ The one who saved, the hero of my story, Xue Ren, the one who was my light in the dark… he left me something to protect, I can’t leave it alone, I won’t leave it.

Feeling a fire run through me I jolted out of the cold grip of death, awakening to see the same scene I had moments ago. My brother above me, crying, attempting to wake me up, I tried to speak, but all that came out was a wet gurgle as my attempt to speak merely spurted blood from my throat. It wasn’t working, the wound wouldn’t heal, this laughing, gleeful wound stayed, not healing. Until suddenly that warmth converged, focusing on my throat and before I knew it that gaping hole was gone, I was back and I wouldn’t lose again, I would fight to protect what I had been left, and I would not _fall!_

Shakily, as my body regained sensation, I stood. Like hell I was gonna die to a son of a bitch with a knife, I would not let this village fall. Turning back to my brother, I let out a manic grin, and with swagger practically audible, I drawled, ‘Did you honestly think that a slit throat would kill me bro? Honestly how little faith do you have in me? Oh well,’ I sighed, ‘Time to finish this.’ Turning back to the murderer in front of me, he looked practically overjoyed at my revival, until he suddenly stopped bouncing around insanely, as dropped into a stance, knife held at his waist, his other hand guarding, chest level.

He was leaving his head open, but that hand could easily rise to it, so deciding the only course of action, I attempted to end the fight quickly. Giving no warning once again, I immediately gathered up every shadow in the area, sending them bolting towards my prey, as he raised his hand to guard his head from the strike, he braced for the impact.

A cry rang out around the area as the shadows pierced his undefended chest, running him through as the man collapsed to the ground, writhing as his blood ran from the gaping hole in his chest. I had gotten vengeance. Like hell this murderer would have free reign in this village.

Some soldiers around noticed their fallen comrade turned to us, flicking out their knives sauntering towards us, their body language was careless but I could tell, the second I made a move they would move, their form not careless, nor open but free. Still preparing for another fight, I attempted to gather my servants as I analysed their forms, searching for an opening. I felt lightning flash through my veins as the shadows refused to obey, simply settling into their shapes. Unmoving. I had hit my limit, I couldn’t fight them. I began to feel power flowing into me once again, but too little too late. I was gonna die. Fear was flashing through my mind, that conviction I had felt a moment ago now seeming miles away, I felt myself edging away from them, about to run, run and hide because the storm was coming, death was coming to collect our debts. And we could do nothing.

Preparing to run I noticed my brother, he hadn’t moved from his spot, locked in place as that glow faded, supply exhausted. What to do? Abandon my brother and live, or stay and die. I had an answer. In that instant I was _filth!_ Filth because I was going to run, run because I was scared, scared now that I had seen what comes with the storm, what the monsters under your bed looks like, and I was a coward, a filthy coward who could not do the one thing they can do right, _kill!_ There was nothing I could do. It was hopeless.

Turning to abandon my life and begin anew, I took a step. Then twin cries went up behind me and I heard the wet rasp of one dying, and, like the coward I am, turned back now that there was no danger. There was our father, soaked in blood not his own and panting, leaning against a wall as the ones about to end us were on the floor, two corpses, compressed to the size of a grape.

‘Kureshida, Hakushoku,’ my eyes being drawn to the source voice I looked at our father, I didn’t notice it initially, but his face was haggard, himself heaving, looking like he was struggling to stand. What could have done this? What could have tired the elder out so much that he was swaying on his feet, our father, the one who’s power was whispered quietly in reverence, was now looking like he could be knocked over with a strong wind.

The elder gathered himself and began to speak, ‘In the tent,  there is a hidden door, you’ll know it when you see it, hold your birthright, take them and protect the villagers,’ he devolved into a coughing fit, rubies flying out onto his hand as he swayed like a leaf in the wind. ‘You… you don’t stand a chance, not even you Kure there are too many, so run, take the villagers far away from here, protect them.’ He then looked directly into my eyes, and for the first time, there was an emotion I had never seen…

 

 

 

 

_Fear_

 

 

 

Pure, unmeasurable fear, hidden underneath layers and layers of calm façade the elder was scared, absolutely terrified, yet he continued to fight. Why, why did he fight? What drove him to not run from the demons beneath the road he walked? How, how is he so strong, why doesn’t he run, he’s lived for so much longer, he knows so much more. So why does he protect us? I didn’t know the answer. I still don’t.

Our fathers voice dropped like a stone, becoming cold and matter of fact, ‘No matter what you do Kure, run, never stop running, run for your life, because the monsters are coming, and I probably won’t be there to help you, so don’t wait for me, just run.’

I knew

 

The elder did run, but not the same way I did, no, he ran by soaking his path in so many tears and so much blood that the demons beneath his road couldn’t find him, track him. We were the same him and I, cowards in our own ways, too scared to try and break the course fate had set for us, too scared to face those demons and live, and so we ran from the monsters and hid from the demons.

Nodding, a look of a man who has nothing left to lose turned away from us and threw these words to my brother, ‘Don’t cry Haku, death comes for us all, but just so I know when I can go all out, when you reach the mountain of beauty, fire your light to the sky, you’ll know how to when the time comes.’ taking my brothers hand, I led him away, I didn’t want him to see any more than what he had too. He was still dazed as though in a trance, the fog must be thick in his mind, but through that fog let out some weak protest, letting out weak whines, struggling, attempting to break free of my grip, I wouldn’t let go. I had to protect him, maybe it was selfish, but I wanted my brother to be happy, even if he was owed the truth of what our father was… I couldn’t let his memory of our father be tainted like that, I had to make sure he thought our father was what he always had been, a kind, old goofball. Not a brutal murderer who was a master of their craft.

As I led him away, I heard more cries go up from around the village centre as we creeped through back alleys, attempting to make our way to the tent. As we walked, my brother’s protests ceased, as he entered the state he was in previously, the fog being so thick that he couldn’t even think. The fog appears to be relative to our own emotions, the worse our emotional state, the thicker the fog. God only knows how bad it must have been for him to turn into a practical zombie.

Eventually we reached the closest alleyway to the tent, I began to look to see if any of the soldiers were headed this way, but none were, our father seemed to be… compressing them into grapes, turning them to stone and many, many things I… I don’t care to remember. Haku isn’t the only one who likes to remember the elder better than he actually is you know. Turning to the last member of my family, I gestured for him to follow me, as I crept towards the tent, every step sounding like an explosion, despite the actual ones ringing out around us in the blazing cruelty of these buildings.  My brother did not seem to give a rat’s arse as to whether or not he was seen, merely following me step for step. Eventually, thanks to our father we managed to arrive at the tent, pulling back the curtain, I entered the seemingly spotless room.

All was the same, except for one thing. One monumental thing. Off to the side of the tent, next to the elders workbench, was a door. A door carved in ornate symbols and carvings forming various suns and ferns. This door was new. We had never seen it, never, it was never there.

 

Until now it seemed.

 

Stepping forward warily, I looked around the door, looking for a handle. Finding none, I stepped forward, raising my arm to the steel door ahead. The moment my fingers brushed the carved metal the symbols began to glow a deep purple, flickers of pitch flaring within those glowing lights.

I couldn’t move, I was entranced by whatever this light was, by the shadows curling as though in greeting towards that light, they released their grip on me, breaking that dress of shadows apart, as that light continued to grow and the shadows danced within that lilac beauty, mirroring the flaring ink.

As I stood staring dumbly at that door I failed to notice as the inky blackness begun to consume that light as it begun to creep up my arm, swallowing it in almost scale like plates as it continued to run along my arm and begun to form a thick heavy webbing that stretched across my form in an ever moving net. As those threads of onyx crept up my neck, those that littered my body began to thicken, forming an almost armour like form. As they continued to thicken, that ink along my body flickered, raising into razor spikes for a split second before settling onto me like a second skin as the spikes that had formed settled into a running scaled pattern, the ones on my hand forming a gauntlet of three long, shifting claws connected by onyx webbing. The scales at the base of the knees were elongated, forming an arch, marks running along them, long and straight, the feet resembling the deadly claws on my arms.

By the time of that webbing had thickened entirely, my head was covered in that beautiful, light pitch ink, and before too long that webbing had followed the path of the rest of it, as it formed a helmet around me, plunging me into darkness before returning my sight once more.

Breaking out of my stupor, I looked down at my hands in bewilderment, clenching them a few times, I felt as that ink shifted to accommodate any move I made, the claws flowing into my palms as I clenched my hands, before snapping back into that deadly edge once more as I unclenched them. I reached up to my head, my ears, only to find that webbing running down the helmet before reaching the mouth piece and stopping there.

It was… indescribable, that ink it… made me _strong_ , it made me feel like I was a god, that earlier surge was nothing in comparison to the sheer power this thing made me feel, this sheer, unfathomable might! I finally could protect those who needed it, I could protect Papa, I could save Haku and the village, the fooIs who dared strike us would fall in repentance, no longer would I be a coward, and these bastards would be diced into their very atoms.

Returning my focus to the task at hand, I returned my attention to my brother. He seemed to have cleared some of that fog as he looked at me blankly, the only trace of anything on his face a light dusting of fear in his eyes.

Dammit, god dammit all to hell, I was a coward who nearly abandoned my brother, hurt him and now he was scared of me. Trying to make my tone as light as possible, I murmured lightly, ‘Come on bro, I’m not gonna hurt you. I would never hurt you, ya’ moron.’ Reaching out a tentative hand, I made to grab his hand, wishing for this dark, unholy curse to draw back from my skin, to reveal that yes, I was the same sister that he had spent the last two hundred years with.

And to my surprise, it did. That armour peeled itself back, suspending itself in the air, revealing the pale skin beneath, I was still here, I wasn’t some monstrous scaled beast, I was still Kureshida Hikari. I was still me.

As I grasped his hand, that fear in his eyes seemed to abate, replaced by those two golden orbs that made up his eyes, covered in a layer of fog.  Pulling his hand up to the door with bated breath, I put his hand against the metal. All was silent for a moment, Haku still trapped in that haze, the door remaining harshly still. Then, light flooded the room, as bright tendrils of what looked like ethereal, liquid light wrapped around my brother, wreathing him in a  light of which’s beauty was not of this earth, that door giving off so much light that I could barely stand to look, it had formed some sort of plate armour, but in-between the cracks appeared to be a lattice of feathers at the joints, and as those holy tendrils reached for his head I felt as that light searched outward, reaching into the world, soothing that rage, that dark, all-encompassing murderous intent, calming that cowardice and the fragile mask made of flimsy strength.

By the time I was freed from that light that sung a lullaby of peace and joy, my brother had already been wrapped in his own armour. The helmet was some sort of eagle, its beak wide open, being the opening for my brothers face, but the armour was more than that, it felt like I was gazing upon something… something beautiful, something greater than my own powers of unlight and panicked destruction, it felt like it was loving in its very intent, and would be a shield to any who needed it, like it could undo all the blood that lines the words of this tale, like it could, with only a smile, make even the most cold hearted murderer put down their weapon and beg for forgiveness, like it was a… a thing beyond the human capacity, hell, a thing beyond godly capacity. A thing beyond my useless, pathetic, bloody way of resolution.

Putting that truth out of my mind, I returned my attention to the child of light ahead of me. He was staring at me, his face clear of that fog, aware, calculating, face set in a grim line he asked ‘What now?’ What now? Wasn’t it clear, I would save our father and the village in one fell swoop. I would protect them from these mercenaries, a dirty job, but one I would be willing to oblige

I gave no clue as to what I was feeling, ice had fallen across my features, my voice colder, it was as though any who heard it was encased in a glacier of fearful fury, as I whispered, ‘Evacuate the village,’ my voice regained some of that swagger, but it was still icy as I breathed, ‘I’ll stay here, protect Papa, and anyone who gets in my way…the shadows shall engulf them in black fire as they engulfed our home.’ Confusion darted across his face, quickly followed by… horror. Horror flowed through his eyes like nectar, dragging itself across his features in a painfully slow coming of realization that I was a monster, no better than these murderers, a killer who would only go on to end the lives of people who probably had family waiting for them with this cursed power thoughtlessly, only thinking of my own gain and that feeling of blood, that horrible weight that dragged down your clothing in warm clotting. That I was not the sister that he thought he knew

Of course, I failed to notice this back then, so young and inexperienced, so unknowing of the pains of murder. I was so self-absorbed within my own power and my pitiful self-righteousness that I failed to notice the only real reason I should even be alive was horrified with me, that my failure was shown on full display, that I wanted to protect my home and my family, but those were not my priority.

Turning round I stalked out of the tent and towards the centre of the village, but it appeared as though my brother snapped out of his stupor as he reached for my shoulder, dragging me back into the tent, an almost furious expression cresting his soft features.

‘Kure, don’t be stupid you fool! Papa can handle it himself, he doesn’t need you!’ my brother snarled, that light flaring. I looked at him coldly, staring at him with that god awful helmet as I growled, ‘You saw the state he was in Haku. If I don’t go down there then we won’t have any village waiting for us at the end of this.’

These words rightfully did not assuage my brother, if anything it only made him more frustrated, as that light seemed to grow dim, sharper, deadlier. He growled out, ‘maybe so, but this is Papa we’re talking about, yes he has his limit’s, but he’s only holding back because we’re here, he doesn’t want to hurt us.’ He sighed, pausing as he pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘Those people out there, we don’t know why they fight, for all we know they have families, people who just want them to come home to them, to come home and see their children.’ My brother breathed out with the voice of someone older and wiser than he, sounding… sad.

He returned his gaze to me, seeming to pierce into me as he turned his gaze upon me, his eyes glistening, ‘Maybe they have someone who they love, someone who they want protect, maybe they were just down on their luck, maybe they were just… just wanting to die, die a heroic death. Maybe they just wanted to make the one they loved proud. Maybe they have their own Xue Ren.’

My breath stilled, Xue, god, Xue. I miss him. I miss him so much even after all I’ve been through. But back then, the wound was only just closed, still tender, and Haku had just taken knife to it. The fog, why wasn’t it coming, why couldn’t I be free of this eternal, stretching, broken static! Why? 

The world was spinning, I remember being trapped in a haze, I couldn’t breathe, I stumbled back away from Haku, running towards that mass of waiting targets with the shadows swirling around me. I felt those hot, heavy tears weigh down my face as they rolled down, dragging me into an abyss, but I kept running.

I vaguely remember reaching that crowd, those unlight tentacles slashing through body after body as though they were nothing but wet paper, as I cleaved them in two, as I ran through the crowd, sending the shadows out further to kill more of them. I felt as that blood sprayed out, splashing on my armour and running off it like a stream.  I wasn’t in that all too sterile room; I wasn’t clutching his dead hand. He wasn’t coughing up blood into his waiting palm.

I reached the centre, those mercenaries no longer clamouring to kill me, or to capture me. Instead they were running, running away from the freak, running away from the killer, running away from the monster under the bed with more power than they could conceive.

I reached the centre of the town soon after. There were still a few of those soldiers here, they hadn’t run yet, paralysed, like I had been earlier.

I looked at each one individually, my expression hidden by that unnaturally still helmet, the crevices of the scales and the webbing holding crimson within them. They cowered. It didn’t occur to me at the time that I had killed more than any of the people here had ever killed, that I had become worse than those I hated using power, a bloodthirsty power that leeched into my mind.

I raised a single shadow, and with no hesitation, brought it down upon them. I still remember them.

One of them could have only been nineteen, just wanting to be respected, probably just following a stupid bet or dare made while drunk. Parents waiting for their son to come home from his latest stunt. Parents who didn’t know the pain fate had wrought upon him, the fate that power had wrought upon, the payment of the cost for the power. He probably hadn’t even hurt anyone. And I had killed him thoughtlessly.

I remember the screams of the eldest as they rang out, the terror that was etched into their tone so familiar, I recognised it for I had felt it too. I felt as that terror, that blanket washed over you and you just want… you just want to stay alive, to go back to those waiting for you, and that scream was that and so much more. It was a scream that held a life unlived, a life left to live. A scream of regret for ever joining this war band, joining this inquisition, he was trapped in terror before death, he died scared, thinking that he would be remembered as a war hungry fool. He probably had a wife back home, waiting for her husband, food on the table in case he came home. But he never did. He paid the price for that choice, a choice he probably didn’t even want to make, he paid a price he wasn’t ready for.

  I remember the faces of the rest, so scared, just wanting their family, just wanting security, just wanting to go home. To be embraced by those they loved, they didn’t want to go. They just wanted to go home, collapse, drink something and allow themselves to drift off in a place they knew, to feel free of that pain as though it had never even been there. They just wanted someone, _anyone_ to save them. The price they paid was not having that security as they died, not dying happy, or satisfied, or peacefully. The price of murder. Of foolishness. Fate was cruel, it forces those down on their luck, those foolish, those naïve, those hasty, those that have been wronged, those who were born to a right or a circumstance, it forces them to pay the ultimate toll all too soon and make them pay it afraid for they lose all they had, they lose more than everything for they lose what they could have had.

  I knew what death felt like, that muted, silent, preying terror as you were surrounded by a pitch void, terror as you drifted off into an eternal sleep, as everything, even your mind, your soul, your feelings were stolen from you by that never ending cold. As your hope was broken, as you felt yourself slip and crash into those sirens arms, the arms of those you lost dragging you away from what you have left, the family, the friends, the laughter, the sights to see, food to taste all of it broken and swallowed by that pitiless black void.

 

 

 

 

 

And still I killed them without a second thought.

 

 

But as their bodies slumped into the ground, I saw what lay behind them. I saw as an old man lay, chest still, blades sticking out of every conceivable place. Their old features looking at peace, but not a familiar peace, like they aren’t familiar with true freedom. Like they are unfamiliar with the idea of peace, of life without grief.

 

 

 

A weak voice whispered across the world, broken, the voice of someone who had just lost their world. The voice of someone who had just lost the only one who saw them for who they are, of one who’s sins finally came crashing down, their fragile barrier of pride and power gone, as they were, finally broken by their sins. And their tragedy.

 

‘Papa?’

I was too late, that blood was spilled for nothing, no reason or rhyme to it, only pointless, _endless_ bloodshed, no matter how many lives I took from that point on, he would never be back, he would never arise, my father’s blood would still stain that snow, those knives and spears and every other horrible thing you can imagine would still be piercing the old, dusty, fragile flesh of papa. He was gone. My father was gone.

 

I clutched his broken body, those tears from before flowing in a stream, I felt as something within me break, as everything I was shattered, as hope and joy were quashed. I felt as my body began to shake, shudders running through me, rocking me to my shattered core, those tears carrying away the broken shards of me. I felt as a scream was ripped from my throat, a scream of loss, a scream of a life ended, a scream of one who had everything stolen from them, a scream of one who wanted nothing more than to bring the rest of the world down with the one they lost.

I was supposed to save him, I was supposed to stop these people so the bloodshed would stop. I was supposed to be the hero of this story. I was supposed to be… something, something other than this. I was supposed to save him, save the village, that was the plan.

 

 

It failed

 

 

The beginnings of onyx flames began to flicker in and out of view.

 

 

 

Everything had to burn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so it did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I had so much more to pay yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long, i wrote like the first 4000 words in a day but then my resolve just trickled off, but here it is anyway, and if you're reading this, congrats! you made it through the drunken ramblings of a poor writer who thinks he's half decent, anyway, as always, 
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> allon-sy 
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> oh yeah, I've done some editing of the previous chapters, mostly number two, not much changed but Xue's death has majorly changed, read that over because there are some important lines in that

**Author's Note:**

> my first fic, whadd'ya think? the mystery hasn't even begun yet. times change, but does change age? we'll see. 
> 
> I update whenever I can but hopefully, with a bit of luck I'll be able to upload once a month 
> 
> also translate all non english names in google translate, from here till the end, you will understand the names 
> 
> Allons-y


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